


fresh start, fresh beginnings

by smartbuckley



Series: Lone Star Dates [2]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Brief Mention of Past Owen Strand/Gwyneth 'Gwyn' Strand, Brief mention of miscarriage, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Light Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29717085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartbuckley/pseuds/smartbuckley
Summary: Owen has a first date with Zoe and a second chance - how does it go?
Relationships: Owen Strand/Zoe
Series: Lone Star Dates [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143815
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	fresh start, fresh beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [Holly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell) for the beta, and [Jen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jecari) for the banner. There's two brief mentions of Gwyn having a miscarriage in this story, but it's not the focus and isn't more than a line, total. If it's going to trigger you, please take care of yourself ♥

Dressed more sharply than normal, Owen finds himself taking a deep breath and smoothing down his shirt, exhaling after a moment of closing his eyes briefly. He’s standing outside of the restaurant he’s supposed to meet Zoe at, and all he can focus on is how his heart pounds inside of his chest. It’s not their first date - that happened many months ago, before his ex-wife came to town, before he started hooking up with her, before they had and lost a baby. Then Gwyn had left, too hurt by what had happened, understandably, and Owen - Owen had dealt with his own grief the best way he knew how.

And then Zoe had re-appeared, and Owen -- Owen couldn’t believe how much she took his breath away, even after all of this time. They had started off by being friends first, and that had lasted a few weeks, despite all of the flirting that was occurring between them during that time.

But then one night, during a slow shift, Zoe had visited the firehouse and had asked him out, and Owen -- Owen had grinned and said yes, because he knew this was something new and different and refreshing.

And he was nervous about that - so damn nervous. It wasn’t his first date with Zoe, but TK had said it sort of was, because Owen had wanted things to work between them - had wanted to try hard with Zoe and that expectation alone --

Well, Owen knows his son was right, and that’s why he’s so damn nervous as he stands outside of the restaurant. He can see Zoe inside through the window, and she looks - she looks stunning - so damn stunning.

What would happen if Owen fucked this up? Taking another deep breath, Owen places his hand on the door and pulls it open, a rush of air conditioned air sweeping past him and escaping into the Texas heat as he enters the restaurant. Not looking away from Zoe, Owen finds himself grinning as he steps towards her and the table she’s at before sitting down with a smile.

“Hi,” He finds himself saying, almost like he’s out of breath as he accepts the water that’s being poured into his glass, shaking his head at the prompt of any champagne or wine. He can see Zoe has her own glass of wine - white - before he opens up the menu.

“How was your day?” He can’t help but ask, looking towards her. They haven’t talked much the past few days, both too busy with their respective jobs, and while he doesn't actually mind, he’s excited to find out how Zoe’s day has been.

“It was interesting. We talked a lot about how intimacy issues could be affected by the pressures of--” Zoe began as Owen just takes her in, a small smile forming on his face as Zoe continues to talk, a glow to her that he doesn’t want to dim for one moment. The two continue to talk as they decide what to choose from the menu - Owen going with something simple yet delicious and Zoe going with --

“Steak?” He asks, a grin on his face as Zoe laughs while closing her menu with a nod.

“I love myself some steak. And I don’t eat it often, but I figured tonight is a special night, so I might as well,” Zoe admits, a faint blush covering her cheeks that has Owen grinning before he closes his own menu and gives it to the waitress, grabbing his glass and sipping from it.

“How about you? Did you have any interesting calls today?” Zoe asks and Owen can’t help but chuckle, shaking his head.

“It was actually a slow day, admittedly. A few calls here and there but nothing too strenuous or serious.” Owen says after a few minutes, smiling when the waitress appears with their food, the smells wafting from the plates making his stomach gurgle and both of them laughing before they dig into their plates.

“How is TK doing?” Zoe asks a little while later and Owen grins, eyes shining as he begins to tell Zoe about TK and how everything is going with him - and them, and how their relationship is growing stronger after having a serious talk. Eventually the conversation turns into what happened between Owen and Gwyn, and --

“It wasn’t easy,” Owen admits with a soft sigh as he slowly finishes his plate. Zoe is sipping her own wine, her plate finished, and Owen finds himself lost in his thoughts for a minute before he feels Zoe’s hand on top of his, squeezing gently which causes him to smile.

“I’m sorry it happened, Owen,” Zoe says and he finds himself nodding, blinking when the waitress re-appears with the dessert menu. Picking dessert is easy - he goes with something that has strawberries and Zoe goes for something with chocolate and Owen can’t help but let out a small laugh as he takes a few bites before relaxing back into the chair.

It’s a Friday night, and Owen is lucky enough to have the night off, even as a captain, so as he finishes the dessert, he finds himself looking over to Zoe with a grin. He wants to do this right - doesn’t want to rush into having sex with her like he did last time, but the night is slowly coming to an end as their meals end, and it’s something he truly doesn’t want to happen at that moment.

“Do you want to go for a walk, after?” Owen finds himself asking, a small smile on his face as Zoe grins and nods, ducking her head to hide her face, and the blush he can see on her cheeks, from him.

Paying the bill has them both lightly arguing and teasing one another before Zoe lets him pay for it and then they’re walking out of the doors and Owen ---

Owen feels nervous now, even more than before, because the park is a little while away and all he wants to do is hold Zoe’s hand. Before he can overthink it though, her hand is grabbing his and she’s squeezing it lightly before lacing their fingers together and Owen --

Owen turns to look at her with a small smile and a chuckle, a fond look on his face as she leans into him a little more while they walk.

“I’m having a really good time, Owen,” Zoe whispers after they walk a little bit away from the restaurant and towards the park. The night is cool for Texas and there’s a slight breeze blowing through Zoe’s hair that has Owen wanting to run it through his fingers.

“I’m having a really good time too,” Owen responds after a few minutes, biting the inside of his cheek before he notices a small bench and gestures towards it. They both go over to it and sit down, a small pond in front of them that has moonlight reflecting off the surface.

It’s a beautiful sight - though Owen can’t help but think it’s not as beautiful as the woman at his side. He can see Zoe smile, and even though she’s not looking at him - he has no doubt that she noticed he was looking at her.

The two remain quiet for a few more minutes before Zoe lets out a small sigh, turning to look at Owen.

“My home is just across the pond,” She whispers and Owen wonders when Zoe moved, blinking in surprise before he turns back towards her.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” He questions, and he waits as Zoe hums softly, a small smile on her face before she shakes her head. Before Owen can even begin to feel disappointed though, she’s moving forward, placing her lips on his. It takes a few minutes for Owen to respond to the kiss, placing his hands on the side of Zoe’s face before deepening the kiss with a smile.

They continue to kiss for a few minutes before Zoe pulls away, still smiling and Owen can’t help the grin that forms on his own face at her reaction which quickly turns into a smirk at her next words.

“I want to take things slow with you. Start anew, fresh, you know? And I’m pretty sure having you walk me to my home will have me inviting you inside which is ---”

“Fun but not fresh, new or slow?” Owen interrupts with an arch of his eyebrow, laughing when Zoe nods and kisses him once more before pulling away with a light giggle.

“Exactly,” she whispers before kissing him again and then standing up, smoothing over her own clothes and letting out a deep breath.

“I’ll call you - or text you. But we should definitely do this again, Owen Strand.” Zoe says and Owen nods, still grinning as he waves goodbye to Zoe, who is walking away -- and Owen can’t look away from the sight - knowing that the night ended absolutely perfectly.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this story. Please think about leaving a comment, as reading comments motivates me into writing more, and I always ~~eventually~~ respond to them. Otherwise, you can come yell at me on my [tumblr](https://siriuslyjamie.tumblr.com/ask).


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